1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to shutoff valves serving to control the flow of a pressurized fluid, and, more particularly, to a self-closing tap valve which is openable by tilting an outlet member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A self-closing valve of the type under consideration is a shutoff valve which is used as a dispensing device in connection with a supply of pressurized fluid, most frequently water, and in some cases compressed air. The valve opens under the application of an outside force to a tiltable outlet member which, in turn, moves a valve control member by overcoming a permanent valve-closing bias on the valve control member. The valve-closing bias may be built into the valve mechanism, derived from a spring or from gravity, for example, or it may be resulting from the action of the pressurized fluid. In each case, the valve closes automatically, as soon as the outside force is no longer present.
Self-closing valves of this type are particularly advantageous in situations where the deliberate closing of a dispensing valve by the user cannot be counted on. This is generally the case with all animals. Many animals, for example, can learn to open a dispensing valve, if the action required is as simple as applying pressure to an easily accessible control member in response to a feeding urge, but one cannot expect that these animals will also learn to perform a valve-closing action, after they cease drinking.
There also exist various circumstances under which the use of a manually actuatable self-closing tap valve is advantageous in connection with water dispensing systems. This is particularly the case in public facilities and in highly frequented semi-public or private facilities, where user negligence can lead to considerable waste. This kind of waste may be very costly in the case of a hot water dispensing system.
Among the reasons why self-closing tap valves are not being found more frequently in everyday use, are their inadequate operational longevity, due to gasket water and spring corrosion, for example, and/or the lack of operational convenience, especially of those self-closing tap valves which have to be opened by depressing a push button.
The prior art in the field of tiltable self-closing valves includes U.S. Pat. No. 656,759 which suggests a hose valve with a vertically oriented outlet pipe. The latter is tiltable in any direction about the center of a spherical head on the extremity of the outlet pipe, thereby forcibly lowering a guided valve tappet from a downwardly oriented valve seat, in opposition to a compression spring.
U.S. Pat. No. 749,285 discloses a tap valve with a horizontally extending outlet pipe which, when pivoted downwardly, lifts a vertically guided valve plunger from a valve seat. The plunger is biased against the seat by its weight and by a diaphragm under fluid pressure which engages its upper extremity.
Both of these tap valves are complex in structure and therefore costly and susceptible to wear and leakage and/or breakdowns.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,199 concerns itself with a tiny "nipple valve" of the self-closing type with a tiltable outlet member, the valve being proposed for an automatic poultry watering installation. The head of the tiltable outlet member lifts a closure disc off an upstream-facing valve seat, in opposition to the weight of a vertical plunger.
Automatic laboratory animal watering devices are disclosed in British Pat. No. 1,195,655, and German Offenlegungsschrift (Publ. Appln.) No. 1,550,478, and a cattle watering device is suggested in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,306,380.
The automatic animal watering devices which are suggested in these patents are unsuitable for other than their specialized use, because they are either too small, as in the case of the nipple valve, or too rudimentary, as in the case of the cattle watering valve.